AAA: Round Rock 6, El Paso (SDG) 7
Round Rock: 7 hits, 4 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 14-16, 7.5 GB, 48-57 overall
SP Carl Edwards Jr.: 5.1 IP, 6 H (2 HR), 5 R, 2 BB, 5 SO, 77 P / 51 S, 4.61 ERA
RP Robby Ahlstrom: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 3.25 ERA
LF Cody Freeman: 1-2, 2B, .323/.371/.526
DH Trevor Hauver: 2-3, HR (8), .270/.378/.426
I saw Cody Freeman’s name when I grabbed the lineup sheet but didn’t notice his position until I took my seat. Freeman made his professional debut in the outfield, handling one fairly routine fly (an opposite-field fly to his right) without issue. I eagerly hoped for more in his direction, but he was replaced in the top of the 5th, and I’m unaware of any physical issue. Speculate away, but Josh Jung is surprisingly listed as tonight’s DH.. Freeman hit a sharp liner that was caught and a double to deep center.
Colorado claimed Blaine Crim on waivers and optioned him to AAA Albuquerque. Tomorrow, the ‘Topes will host none other than the Round Rock Express for a week. Colorado’s production has been scary-bad at first (.213/.275/.385, 76 OPS+) and even worse at DH (.218/.283/.321, 64 OPS+), so hopefully Crim gets a chance. I know The Rox want 1B/DH Michael Toglia (.194/.261/.361) to get back on track after a surprisingly potent 2024, but surely Crim can fit somewhere. Aside from Crim’s brief fling in Arlington, I think the last time I saw an Express game without him on the roster was September 11, 2022. He played 363 games with the Express, hit 60 homers and batted .283/.374/.487. Best wishes.
OF Dustin Harris went unclaimed and was outrighted to the Express.
AA: Frisco 0, San Antonio (SDG) 4
Frisco: 5 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 6 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 12-21, 8 GB, 50-51 overall
SP Josh Stephan: 3.2 IP, 2 H (1 HR), 2 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 3 SO, 66 P / 42 S, 5.11 ERA
DH Jake Burger: 0-4
SS Sebastian Walcott: 3-4, .246/.343/.395
Sebastian Walcott broke a four-game hitless streak with a vengeance. Frisco had exactly zero plate appearances with a runner in scoring position. Neither Joey Danielson nor Eric Loomis have been sharp in the early going after being promoted from Hub City. Both allowed runs and issued two free passes in a combined three innings.
Hi-A: Hub City 3, Asheville (HOU) 2
Hub City: 8 hits, 7 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 3 hits, 6 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 21-15, 1 G up, 52-49 overall
SP Jose Gonzalez: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 SO, 82 P / 58 S, 2.83 ERA
2B Casey Cook: 1-2, BB, SB (24), .202/.288/.273
C Malcolm Moore: 1-2, SB (4), .200/.296/.300
Under a steady drizzle, Jose Gonzalez kept the Tourists off the bases until the 4th. The Burgers were equally stifled until the 7th but scored three. Hub City nearly squandered that lead in the 9th, walking five straight with two out, but with the bases loaded and a full count, Jesus Gamez scraped the top of the zone to record the final out.
Cal Stark took Malcolm Moore’s place in the top of the 4th.
Hub City won four of six from Asheville and held the Tourists to three runs and 4.5 hits per game.
Lo-A: Hickory 2, at Fayetteville (HOU) 5
Hickory: 4 hits, 6 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 6 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 21-15, 5.5 GB, 54-47 overall
SP Ismael Agreda: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 1 SO, 51 P / 26 S, 2.84 ERA
RP Jormy Nivar: 4.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 2.08 ERA
RP Brock Porter: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 3.70 ERA
CF Yeremi Cabrera: 1-3, HR (7), HBP, SB (36), .243/.356/.340
I saw Jormy Nivar in March: “18 walks and 80 strikeouts in 76 DSL innings [2023-2024 combined]. A skinny 6’3”, Nivar cleanly delivered a 92-93 sinker with substantial horizontal movement, a mid-80s slider, and an upper-80s change.” At the complex, Nivar’s control was still fine if slightly worse, but his strikeout rate dwindled to a flat 20%. Now 22, Nivar also allowed nine homers despite an extreme grounder tendency and finished with a 6.91 ERA in 41.2 innings.
Hickory trails Myrtle Beach, 26-9 in the second half after a league-worst 25-39 record in the first. The teams don’t meet again.
Rangers Minor League History, 2007-2024
The second-worst Texas full-season squad was the 2015 Frisco RoughRiders.
Actual record: 60-79 (.432)
Run-differential record: 56-83 (.404)
Component record: 55-84 (.393)
This offense had Jorge Alfaro, Lewis Brinson, Ryan Cordell, Joey Gallo, Nomar Mazara, Drew Robinson and Nick Williams. This offense was also the worst of any of Texas’s 68 full-season teams during 2007-2024. They hit .243/.313/.378, 21-24 points below the park-adjusted league average in all components, good for an 88 OPS+. The players mentioned combined for a .266/.346/.457 line and 118 OPS+, but the others were .228/.290/.325 with a 68 OPS+. The Luises Marte and Mendez were able defenders with timid bats. Catcher Pat Cantwell didn’t hit (.224/.303/.327), and Preston Beck suffered his worst year as a pro (.224/.303/.327). Collectively, they knocked plenty of homers but didn’t walk much and struck out a ton.
The six busiest pitchers – Chad Bell, Jose Leclerc, Victor Payano, Andrew Faulkner, Jake Thompson and Aliangel/Frank Lopez – combined for nearly half the team’s innings but had a collective ERA of 4.86 (league average was 4.23), and none was better than 4.19. Management badly wanted Leclerc to succeed as a starter with his intimidating four-pitch mix that included two changeups, but his control simply wouldn’t allow it. The Riders had a league-worst 12% BB/HBP rate at a time when 10% was the maximum acceptable.
Frisco lost 13 straight after a 12-13 start. They slowly improved to 46-50 (including 17-9 to open the second half), only to lose 11 more in a row, plus another seven to conclude the season.
Late that July I attended a couple of games, meeting and chatting with Nick Williams’ father and Jake Thompson’s girlfriend. They asked if Nick and Jake would be on different teams in a few days. I told them I had no way of knowing, but they were definitely in play, and while the physical and emotional instability wasn’t fun, it was certainly better to be wanted by many clubs than not. Within a day or two, both would head to Philadelphia for Cole Hamels. Incidentally, both are still active professionals in Mexico and were teammates in Durango for a while.